Legal Question in Insurance Law in Oregon

Re: auto accident liability

The facts you recite would still require more facts, if I were the arbitrator deciding this issue. I'd want to know how much visibility driver A had, how much time he would have had, if he'd been driving slower, what the suggested speed is, what is the proof of the speeding, how far back was it that driver A entered the row of vehicles, and where was A when B started to pull out? Also, did B pull out suddenly and quickly, or slowly? Most of all, were there any WITNESSES to this, besides the parties or people in their cars? If not, even car passengers would be better witnesses than just the parties themselves.

Oregon law has what's called "comparative negligence." If a lawsuit were filed in this against A, A would surely raise comparative fault as an affirmative defense. This means, essentially, that fault is shared, and the percentage of fault that driver B might share would reduce B's damages by the same percentage as his fault. So, if B is damaged $10,000, but an arbitrator or jury finds B is 40% at fault, B's $10k just became $6k.

The BIG "IF" in this analysis is this: If the plaintiff in this case (and I'm presuming that's B) is found to be MORE than 50% at fault, in Oregon B gets nothing at all.

Good luck! --- Sam Hochberg